This Queen Anne house was built in 1890 in the southern Michigan town of Hudson. It was built by banking pioneer Gamaliel Thompson. Three generations of the Thompson family lived in the house before it became a museum. It is one of the most original Queen Anne style homes in Michigan both inside and out.
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The Porcupine Mountains in the western Upper Peninsula is the largest state park in Michigan. It is known for its hiking trails, waterfalls, and the Lake Of The Clouds. But few people know that hidden among the trees are the ruins of an old mining town. It also has an old stone lined shaft that sinks into the ground. It is rather spooky how it curves out of a hill and I can not imagine descending down into the earth from it. The hole is fence off now but you can still see it in the forest of the Porkies
Nonesuch is a type of copper ore that exists in sandstone and the town was named after the ore. Mining began in 1867 and ended in 1912.At its peak, the town had a population of 300 people and besides the mining buildings, it had a school, boarding houses, stables, and even a baseball team. Today stone walls can be found in the area where the town once stood. I also found some old cast iron machine parts including a large gear half-buried in the ground and held in place by a tree root.
The ruins can be found near the Little Iron River. A parking lot can be found off South Boundary Road with a trail that is about a half-mile long that will take you to the ruins. To find the parking lot drive straight south of the visitor center. A short road keeps going south where South Boundary Road curves to the west. Down that short road, you will find a small parking lot and an informational sign for the town of Nonesuch.
If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula I hope you will take a look at my new book Lost In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula available on Amazon HERE
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I was roaming around the Monroe Cemetery located north of Greenville. I saw a tombstone with the words ONE EYE PETE that caught my attention. On the other side is the name of Corp. Peter Nelson.
From what I could find on the internet Peter Nelson came to the United States from Denmark to avoid conscription into the Danish army. He ended up in the Civil War instead. He got the nickname One Eye Pete because he had lost an eye at a young age when a animal swiped at his face and damaged his eye with its claw.
As part of his severance pay from the military he was offered what he saw as swampland in Illinois. He felt you couldn’t grow anything there of he refused it. Today it is part of downtown Chicago, Il. He came to the Greenville area and died in 1904 and was laid to rest in the Monroe Cemetery.
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I am proud to announce my most recent book Lost In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is now available. I have had several people request I do a book on places in the U.P. and this book has many of my favorite places. Some locations have been published in my other books and some are new. I also have some tips and advice for traveling the Upper Peninsula that I have learned over the many trips I have taken.
Books are available on Amazon HERE
Here is a list of some of the locations in the book. Each location has a story and a detailed address or GPS coordinates so you can find it if you want to visit.
Gros Cap Cemetery.
Fiborn Quarry
Gros Cap Cemetery.
Mission Hill
Naomikong Bridge
Camp Raco
Fayette
Kitch-iti-kipi
Seul Choix Lighthouse
Crisp Point Lighthouse.
Two Hearted River
Vermillion Point
Mansfield
Peninsula Point Lighthouse
Sable Falls
Sand Point
Bay Furnace
Rock Cut
Mt Arvon
Alder Falls
510 Bridge
Redridge Dam
Quincy Dredge
Cliff Mine
Rocket Range
Nonesuch
Skoglund Homestead
You can see a preview of the inside on amazon HERE. (note: you need to be on a desktop or notebook to see the preview)
Thank you so much to everyone that has purchased one of my books. Your support and kindness means a lot to me and helps me with expenses to explore Michigan and create more posts.
The Ladies’ Library Association of Kalamazoo officially incorporated in 1852 and it was the first women’s club organized in Michigan and the third organized in the United States. Its purpose was to promote the cause of equal education for women. The organization built This building in downtown Kalamazoo in 1879, and it is the building first in the nation erected for the use of a women’s club. Yearly subscriptions cost fifty cents and were available to both men and women, however, only women could be members of the organization. In addition to creating Kalamazoo’s first lending library, the LLA activities have included advocating for the right for women to vote, the creation of day nurseries for working mothers, founding Kalamazoo’s first art club, and establishing a community education program for women
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A historical marker stands in a small park next to the library in downtown Ypsilanti. It stands in memorial of a African American engineer that created a memorable idiom for something genuine.
Elijah McCoy was trained as a mechanical engineer and the son of former slaves. He made his living as a fireman stoking fires and oiling engines for the Michigan Central Railroad. McCoy sought to end the delays caused by frequent oil stops. In his Ypsilanti workshop he developed a lubricating cup that continuously fed oil to steam engines. His device automated steam engine maintenance that was previously done by hand and he patented an automatic lubricator in 1872. By 1926 he had patented more than forty lubricating devices used internationally on trains and boats and in factories. Other people and companies began “knocking off” his invention with inferior products. McCoy began marketing his oil cups as “The Real McCoy” to separate his products from poor quality imposters. As steam engines faded in use the oil cups did too, but they saying “The Real McCoy” has remained and it all began with an engineer from Ypsilanti.
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A 15 star American Flag waves over the historic River Raisin Battlefield in Monroe. It commemorates the Battles of Frenchtown and the deadliest battle in Michigan’s history.
The first battle was fought on January 18, 1813, when a small American force under the command of Colonel William Lewis attacked a British and Native American force at Frenchtown. The Americans were victorious, driving the British and Native Americans from the town.
The British and Native Americans retaliated four days later. Many of the Americans were inexperienced troops from Kentucky sand they were ill-prepared and unable to retreat. Of the thousand American soldiers 397 were killed, and 547 were taken prisoner. The prisoners were marched to Detroit and those to weak to walk were killed.
The battleground officially began operation as a national park on October 22, 2010 and is the only national battlefield marking a site of the War of 1812. A newly constructed visitor’s center is open seven days a week.
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A stone marker stands next to the former train depot in St. Louis, Michigan. The depot now serves as a history museum and the mark once stood in a nearby field warning people of the contaminated soil from the former Velsicol Chemical plant.
In 1973 farmers around Michigan began to notice milk production of their dairy cows had begun to decline. soon after the cows stopped eating and their calves died. The after researching the illness the cause was traced back to the animal feed and it was found to contain high levels of polybrominated biphenyl, or PBB. A chemical used as a fire retardant.
It was a year later in April of 1974 That it was discovered that the PBB retardant was mistaken for instead of magnesium oxide, a cattle feed supplement. The two chemicals came from the Velsicol Chemical plant and the sacks of PBB were sent to the animal feed plants by mistake. 30,000 cattle, 4,500 pigs, 1,500 sheep, 1.5 million chickens were killed after the discovery of the mixup.
Fifty years later it remains as one of the largest environmental disasters in American history. The Velsicol plant closed down and was demolished and buried where it stood. The stone maker was placed in its location to warn people. It was moved in 2013 to its current location after local residents requested it be replaced with a less ominous warning. It stands as a reminder of that horrific incident a half century ago.
In 1981, Ron Howard and Art Carney starred in the TV movie Bitter Harvest that was based on the tragic event. I was too young to remember horrific event when it originally happened, but I do remember the Ron Howard movie with him as a Michigan farmer.
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The Hartley Barn is a historic barn located in the Bridgeport Historical Village in Bridgeport, Michigan. It was built in Kawkawlin between 1881 and 1885 by Henry Jones on a land grant signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The farm passed to the Hartley family in the early 1900s and was used until the 1960s when the Bridgeport Players acquired the barn from Charles Hartley to use as a community theater and dance hall . The barn was moved to its current location in 1975 and restored. It is now maintained by the Bridgeport Historical Society and open to the public for tours and special events.
FYI: I will be giving a presentation at the Bridgeport Public Library on Wednesday May 3rd, at 6pm. Admission is free and if you live in the area I hope you are able to attend.
The town of Lakeview stands along the shores of Tamarack Lake in central Michigan. It is there that you will find the Lakeview Area Museum. Next to the building is an old metal cage with faded red paint that was once a jail cell. It has two cots and I could only imagine what it would be like to be imprisoned in the confined cage for any length of time The museum was not open when I saw the old jail cell to learn more about it so I guess I will have to stop by some other time.
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